Dead Spaces, Vibrant Places : Planning ideology, practice, and the built environment in Umeå

Abstract: A vibrant place is abundant in energy and life. This vibrant energy comes from the presence of a great diversity of people performing a great diversity of activities. Vibrancy is an atmosphere we can intuitively feel in certain public spaces, and likewise we intuitively feel when a place is dead. This thesis investigates why some places are alive while others are dead, and dives into the relationship between planning ideology, the built environment, and the social environment. This is situated within the context of Umeå, the largest city in Northern Sweden. I study how planning ideology and practice has shaped Umeå by interviewing two key actors in Umeå’s post war development. I also conduct case studies of public life in four of Umeå’s neighbourhoods to explore how different urban forms facilitate or impede vibrant public life. I conclude by exploring how these neighbourhoods might be made into more vibrant communities. My findings indicate that Umeå’s post-war development aligns closely with the global Modernist trend of that era. This paradigm created monofunctional suburban neighbourhoods with detrimental impacts on vibrancy. These neighbourhoods are composed of public spaces which, in ideal weather, facilitate a great deal of leisure activity, but not much else. Furthermore, I find that vibrancy can be encouraged through diversity (as opposed to homogeneity) and integration (as opposed to segregation), and that by allowing for more diverse land uses and institutions which stay open at a wider variety of times (especially later into thenight), public life in Umeå’s suburban neighbourhoods can become more lively.